Hunting Humbug 101
A crash course in shooting down bad arguments. Two skeptics examine poor reasoning - 1 fallacy each week - real fallacies from pseudoscience, science misconceptions, politics, philosophy and media.

By Theo Clark and Jef Clark

www.skepticsfieldguide.net


This audio is part of the collection: Community Audio
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Artist/Composer: Theo Clark, Jef Clark
Keywords: Podcast; skeptic; skepticism; fallacy; critical thinking; Australia

Creative Commons license: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0

Notes

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Tutorial 16: Wishful Thinking (Feat. Oprah, The Secret and The Chaser)
Jan 20th, 2009 by huntinghumbug101
In this podcast we look at the fallacy Argument to Consequences – in the specific form of Wishful Thinking. Also: WIN! WIN! WIN! a copy of the paperback edition of Humbug! Be one of the first 3 reviews for the podcast on iTunes and you have a 1/3rd chance of receiving an autographed copy of our book! You can’t get much better odds than that! Send me the text of your review before you post it (so no dodgy person flogs your work…) theo dot clark at skepticsfieldguide.net

Show notes:

Here’s the queen of egoism, Opera Winfrey, on “The Secret”


The Chaser’s satirical take on it – nut job of the week



The Derren Brown show I mentioned is called “The System” – youtube part 1 here:
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Episode 15: On Belief - The Skeptic and The Psychic
Jan 13th, 2009 by huntinghumbug101
Head to the website for full show notes: www.skepticsfieldguide.net. In this episode I interview a practicing psychic. I ask her to answer questions about paranormal phenomena and what the basis of her belief is. I am joined by good friend Ben Retschlag, who I discuss this with – in terms of Thomas Gilovich’s book How We Know What Isn’t So – The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life.

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Tutorial 14: Sanctimony
Jan 7th, 2009 by huntinghumbug101
In this podcast we look at the fallacy Sanctimony - The advocate makes an unwarranted claim that his or her position is morally superior to the opponent’s position. Head to the website for full show notes. (Note, there is a bit of beeped out swearing in this podcast. Sorry if that’s a problem…)

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Tutorial 13: Exaggerated Conflict
Dec 31st, 2008 by huntinghumbug101
In this podcast we discuss the flawed argument Exaggerated Conflict, specifically in the context of climate change. We take the p… out of celebrities and I interview (or rather, have a chat with) a mate. We also provide an obvious solution to climate change - burying paper! Head to the website for full show notes: www.skepticsfieldguide.net. Exaggerated Conflict: The advocate expresses the view that because there is a dispute between experts in a domain of knowledge, the entire field of scholarship (or at least the specific issue in dispute) should be rejected.

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Tutorial 12: Browbeating
Dec 23rd, 2008 by huntinghumbug101
In this podcast we discuss the dodgy tactic Browbeating. It’s also our last look at the fallacies of Jenny McCarthy. We’re totally sick of her. Other examples from Christopher Hitchens and Dr. Evil. Head to the website www.skepticsfieldguide.net for the full pod notes.

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Tutorial 06b (feedback) False Dichotomy and Dilemma
Dec 20th, 2008 by huntinghumbug101
A podcast in response to a question on one of the examples we used for a false dichotomy - in Podcast 6.

Here’s the email we are responding to:

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As an American, I got a dose of culture shock at about 2 minutes in, when reading from your book. You give an example of someone saying that the government has no business censoring anything, and that any censorship is oppressive. You seem to claim that the argument should be about how much censorship to have, not whether to scrap it entirely. As someone who basically agrees with your \”Margo Blarneypickle\”, I take issue with this. More censorship is more oppressive, but any amount of censorship is, indeed, oppressive. This is not an unusual view around here: heck, it\’s written into the US constitution that the government isn\’t allowed to censor anything.

You then go on to suggest that \”Margo\” be ridiculed with straw men. \”Are you in favor of live broadcasts of executions?\” Well, I\’m not in favor of executions. But if you\’ve got the film, it shouldn\’t be illegal to show it. I mean, are you going to outlaw everything that\’s in bad taste? \”Do you favor the removal of doors from public toilets?\” WTF? Of course not. That\’s a false analogy. Censorship isn\’t allowing toilets to have doors, it\’s legally requiring every toilet to have a door. If I want to build a doorless toilet, it shouldn\’t be illegal. I probably shouldn\’t expect many people to buy one, or to use one, but censorship is making it /illegal/ to have or use one.

When the worst that could happen is that someone is discomfited or offended, there is no reason to hand a potentially abusable power to a government that can\’t (http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/12/why-defend-freedom-of-icky-speech.html) and won\’t (http://www.theage.com.au/news/home/technology/police-defend-baby-swinging-video-charge/2008/12/11/1228584982919.html) confine itself to banning just the bad stuff.

Give to your local free speech organizations. http://www.go.to/aclu http://www.efa.org.au/

P.S. The email in your profile doesn\’t seem to work. P.P.S. I have been enjoying your podcast, excepting this one bit which pushed a button for me. Keep up the good work.

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Tutorial 11: Stacking the Deck
Dec 17th, 2008 by huntinghumbug101
In this podcast we continue looking at the faulty reasoning of Jenny McCarthy from an interview on Larry King. In particular we look at Stacking the Deck. See www.skepticsfieldguide.net for more episode info.

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Tutorial 10: False Cause; Correlation Error
Dec 10th, 2008 by huntinghumbug101
In this podcast we discuss the False Cause; Correlation Error. It’s the 1st pod in a series we are doing on the air head actress Jenny McCarthy. Head to the website for more information - www.skepticsfieldguide.net.

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Tutorial 09: Ad Hominem
Dec 2nd, 2008 by huntinghumbug101
In this podcast we discuss the fallacy used by @$%&s - Ad Hominem. See the website www.skepticsfieldguide.net for more info, the podcast show notes, and your free eBook version of Humbug! The skeptic’s field guide to spotting fallacies in thinking.

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Tutorial 08: Gibberish
Nov 25th, 2008 by huntinghumbug101
In this pod we discuss esoteric and discombobulating language - i.e. - Gibberish. Head to the website: www.skepticsfieldguide.net for specific episode info.
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Tutorial 07: Non Sequitur
Nov 18th, 2008 by huntinghumbug101
In this post we discuss Non Sequiturs. Head to the website for more info.

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Tutorial 06: False Dichotomy and False Dilemma
Nov 11th, 2008 by huntinghumbug101
In our 6th pod we discuss the fallacies False Dichotomy and False Dilemma. Head to the website for more info.
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Tutorial 05: Moving the Goalposts and Red Herring
Nov 4th, 2008 by huntinghumbug101
In this 5th Podcast we look at Moving the Goalposts and Red Herrings. See the website for further info - http://www.skepticsfieldguide.net/

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Tutorial 04: Misuse of Information
Oct 29th, 2008 by huntinghumbug101
This podcast deals with the misuse and abuse of statistics and scientific theories and terminology. From surveys and natural health claims to new age gibberish.

Head to the website for the full show notes.
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Tutorial 03: False Analogy
Oct 21st, 2008 by huntinghumbug101
In this podcast we discuss False Analogies. This includes a direct reading from our book: Humbug! The skeptics’ field guide to spotting fallacies in thinking. We’ll eventually get around to podcasting all the fallacies from the book, so you can think of it as the “audio book” version of Humbug!. Not all analogies are false and not all are apt (this would be a False Dichotomy). Analogies lie on a continuum, from strong to weak. We also discuss the use of nonsensical sayings to confuse an opponent in our new section, Schadenfreude - the guilty pleasures of humbug.

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Tutorial 02: Falsification
Oct 16th, 2008 by huntinghumbug101
In this second podcast we discuss Falsification and Immunised Hypotheses.
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Hunting Humbug 101 - 01 What is humbug?
Oct 13th, 2008 by huntinghumbug101
Hunting Humbug 101 – a crash course in shooting down bad arguments. Two iconoclastic skeptics examine poor reasoning in all its guises and domains. With real life examples of fallacies made in science, social science, politics, philosophy and by no means least, the media.
In this podcast we discuss the general idea of fallacies and “critical thinking” and why we were moved to write a book on fallacies. If you’ve ever wanted to hear what we sound like, or if you just like Australian accents, now’s your chance…

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